Pixelle Specialty Solutions LLC experienced sharply lower earnings because of persistent demand weakness and operational inefficiencies during the first half of 2023, which leads us to expect its fiscal-year 2023 S&P Global Ratings-adjusted debt leverage will be in the high-18x area. While we assume a substantial recovery in the company's profitability in 2024 will reduce its debt leverage, limited earnings visibility represents a material downside to our forecast. Therefore, we lowered our issuer credit rating on Pixelle Specialty Solutions to 'B-' from 'B'. The negative outlook indicates that we could lower our ratings if the company's earnings remain weak, leading to constrained liquidity and sustained high debt leverage. The company does not have any short-term refinancing needs, which modestly supports
